Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/house-members-discuss-petraeus-crocker-iraq-hearing Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Transcript Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, and Ambassador Ryan Crocker briefed Congress for a second day Wednesday, discussing the situation in Iraq with lawmakers in the House. Two House members reflect on the hearings and the road ahead for Iraq policy. Read the Full Transcript Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors. GWEN IFILL: Now that Congress has been briefed on the military and the diplomatic challenges in Iraq, what comes next? For that, we're joined by two members of the House. Xavier Becerra is a Democrat from California and assistant to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Adam Putnam is a Republican from Florida and chairman of the House Republican Conference.Welcome to you both.REP. XAVIER BECERRA (D), Calif.: Thank you. GWEN IFILL: Mr. Becerra, you heard what Congressman Burton was saying a few minutes ago about what it is American people want to know about this war. When you talk to people in your district, when you travel home to a district where you were re-elected on the idea that perhaps the war could end, after what you've heard this week from General Petraeus and from Ambassador Crocker, what do you tell them? REP. XAVIER BECERRA: I tell them that I still haven't heard a plan, an exit plan, a clear mission that, after five years, more time than we spent in World War II, 4,000 lives lost, close to 30,000 Americans wounded, and over $500 billion spent, we have very little to show for it.And we are fighting every day in Congress to try to change the course. But as you've heard from the general and the ambassador, the occupant in the White House is determined to keep us there, no end in sight. GWEN IFILL: No end in sight? Let me ask that question to Adam Putnam. Is that true? Is that the same thing you're hearing from folks in your district?REP. ADAM PUTNAM (R), Fla.: Well, in my district, I'm fortunate to represent the servicemen and women who live around MacDill Air Force Base and Central Command and Special Operations Command.And those families tell me that they don't want the sacrifice of the last five years to have been for naught. They tell me that what they see on the ground is a more secure Iraq as a result of the surge plan that General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker have implemented.They tell me that, while there's a lot of talk in Washington about the cost of the war, there's not enough discussion about the cost of losing this war. And here we are, five years later, and thank the good lord there has not been another attack on American soil.Al-Qaida is on the run. Al-Qaida does not have a base of operations in the Middle East because of the presence of the American forces and the training that they have given to the Iraqi forces.